Cabinet freezes Aso-earmarked extra funding

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet on Friday endorsed the suspension of steps worth ¥2.93 trillion allocated for the ¥14.7 trillion extra budget for fiscal 2009, crafted by the previous government, identifying the money as wasteful spending, a Cabinet minister said.

The figure fell below the ¥3 trillion target set by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan when it ousted Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party-led government in the August Lower House poll with vows to cut waste and put more cash into people's hands.

The DPJ-led government is also expected to face greater challenges ahead, as it will have to go through a series of even tougher assessments of requests for the fiscal 2010 state budget to slash spending.

On the fiscal 2009 extra budget, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said the revision process is "unprecedented and groundbreaking" and reflects the "bloody efforts" by ministers.